


Joshua - The Gods' Gardener

by coplins, YouCantKeepMeDown



Series: Pagan Gods [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Blood Drinking, Gen, Origin Story, Original Mythology, Pagan Gods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-13 02:20:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14740214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coplins/pseuds/coplins, https://archiveofourown.org/users/YouCantKeepMeDown/pseuds/YouCantKeepMeDown
Summary: The story of how the pagan gods Michael, Lucifer, and Gabriel came to life.





	Joshua - The Gods' Gardener

**Author's Note:**

> A short origin story of how the gods in [YouCantKeepMeDown](http://archiveofourown.org/users/YouCantKeepMeDown)'s [Pagan Gods](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1028031) verse came to life. :) I've been sitting on this one for quite a while, waiting for the second installment of the series to be posted. Hope you enjoy this little piece of mythology. ^^ /Coplins

### The Buds of Divine Life...

A long, long time ago where the stone altar now stands, three odd plants once budded. An old man wandered by and spotted these plants. His name was Joshua and he'd lived a long, peculiar life. He’d travelled the world, visited temples and remote locations. He’d listened to wise men and priests, seen wonders of all kinds. Read strange books in the famous Library of Enoch. But of all the strange things he’d seen, these plants took the price. He'd never seen such plant in real life, but he'd heard of them and seen pictures drawn. 

It’s said that all over the world, there are places of ancient power. There are spots, nodes, where the power is at its strongest, almost sentient, where it can manifest into life. It’s said that when the power tries to break free it fuses with the closest nature and sprouts a plant. Joshua looked at the three small, almost stone-like buds in wonder. Not one, but three, and felt awe.

Joshua had never married. Never had children. His love for nature and its grandeur, and his insatiable curiosity of the divine had kept him wandering. He was old now, riddled with pains and aches. He couldn’t keep walking for much longer. He knew his days were numbered. But he looked down at these plants and wished to see the miracle of their bloom before he died. He decided he’d stay and nurture them, hoping for his last wish fulfilled. 

Every day he went to the clearing. He watered the plants with a mixture of honey and herb water. He added some blood in it too. Sometimes his own by means of a little cut in his left finger, sometimes a mix of blood from a recently slaughtered animal. Sometimes he mixed wine or mead in the water. He’d not heard anything about how to tend to these divine plants, but he knew that priests would sacrifice with these type of ingredients to their gods, and gods are manifestations of sentient power, so he hoped it would be what was required. After all, there’s no stronger conduit for power than blood. He was right, thus luck favoured him. It didn't kill the plants, it made them grow to the most peculiar, large flowers. And one night, under the full moon, the flowers opened up.

Inside the petals were strange knobbly fruits that looked almost like babies. Joshua, one by one, rubbed some blood on the mouthlike slits of the fruits, and vines carefully wrapped around his hand to pull him in, the slit opening up to suckle. Not much, but enough to give life-energy before letting him go. Every night he returned, first watering the plant bases with the water mixture, then feeding the flower-fruits with some blood from his finger.

The next full moon when he returned, the flowers were no longer there. Instead, three vaguely humanoid boys stood there, translucent and waiting. Once again Joshua was filled with awe and joy. These boys were the embodiment of the nature he revered, the ancient power come to life of its own by his tender nurture.

He knew what he had to do now. He was old. This was his last sacrifice. He saw what they were, knew the stories were true, and he loved them. 

He gave them to drink from the watering can. In the same order as usual. The last one never did get as much as the other two, therefore he had grown shorter. But even he radiated power as strongly as the other two. While they drank they studied him, as if they sought to know his human form, their shape changing to mimic his appearance better. His heart swelled with pride to get to be part of these creatures’ birthing.

At last, he took his knife. He knew what he had to do, and he wasn’t afraid. He made a long, painful cut in his wrist and offered the first boy. Gently, just like the vines once had, the boy wrapped his fingers around his bleeding wrist and pulled him close enough to feed. The boy drank away all the firey pain and felt Joshua's love underneath. He understood love and the price in pain given in sacrifice. He stopped when dizziness started to overtake Joshua and stepped aside to let the next boy drink. A wolf howled in the distance as he drank, and the boy felt the affection Joshua had for the forest and its inhabitants, predators and prey alike. He understood the love for all living things, even when they were your adversaries.

Joshua was losing blood fast, not able to stand anymore. When it was the third boy's turn to drink he fell to his knees so the shorter boy had to sit down to drink from his wrist. He was dying and it was a willing sacrifice. He wished he could sit here forever and be with the gods he'd seen born. A vigilant stone - an illusion of an altar where everybody who felt like him could come and share their own sacrifices to these boys. To get to be blessed by the marvel that was them. The last boy felt it, felt his respect for things that are different than they appear. He understood the joyful wonder of illusions.

As life left Joshua, the three boys grew to men. They kneeled and gave the dead man a kiss on the temple each in a show of the tender affection for the man who had given his life to set them free into this world. They granted the old man his last wish as a thank you. Joshua's body turned to stone, and where the boys, now men, had kissed him, runes appeared. Runes of a sacrificial altar, that’d allow Joshua to open his eyes and see whenever another would bring a sacrifice to share his love for the gods he’d tended. But nobody would ever be able to see him as anything but a stone.

A long time has passed since then. Eventually, a settlement was built nearby and one night under a full moon, somebody stumbled upon the stone that looked like an altar. They ran their fingers over the runes in wonder. The stone was covered in moss but the runes were free of any debris and almost seemed to glow in the moonlight. On impulse the exploring settler put a handful of berries on the stone, thanking the gods for blessing the forest the settler had chosen to make their home. And suddenly the three gods appeared. Each with a mind imprinted a little different depending on Joshua’s last thoughts. One god who was born out of the searing pain of a fresh knife-cut. One god born with the howling of the wolves. And one short god, born with a mind full of tricks...

* * *


End file.
